Method of making handled bags



June 24, 1969 J. BAGNALL 3, 51,316

METHOD OF MAKING HANDLED BAGS Filed Aug 22, 1967 Sheet of INVENTOR John BAGNALL ATTORNEY June 24, 1969 .1. BAGNALL 6 METHOD OF MAKING HANDLED BAGS Filed Aug 22, 1967 Sheet 2 of 2 11v VENTOR I John BAGNALL A TiTORN United States Patent 3,451,316 METHOD OF MAKING HANDLED BAGS John Bagnall, 1785 Caledonia Road, Mount Royal,

' Quebec, Canada Filed Aug. 22, 1967, Ser. No. 662,396 Int. Cl. B31b 49/04 U.S. 'Cl. 93-35 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE wall with a hand grasping portion of the handle extended through the slit.

The present invention relates to carrier bags for shoppers, more particularly to a new method for the insertion of carrier bag handles into the bags.

In the past the manufacture of handled bags has not lent itself to automation, particularly for folding of the top rim and inserting of the handles beneath the rim. These two operations are done manually in an inefiicient manner requiring at least two operators to handle each bag. One operator turns the flange at the top of the bag and a second operator inserts the handles. This is an expensive procedure.

It is thus the main object of the present invention to provide a new bag structure and a new method of folding and inserting of handles into bags.

The various aspects of the invention are more particularly described by reference to preferred embodiments which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows in perspective a known type of carrier bag preform. v

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of part of the bag of FIG. 1 illustrating the known technique for aflixing carrier bag handles thereto.

FIG. 3 shows in perspective a portion of the bag of FIG. 1 with a handle inserted.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the upper part of a carrier bag preform modified in accordance with one aspoet of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a' view similar to FIG. 2 showing the insertion of a handle into the modified bag of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the top part of a completed carrier bag made from the preform of FIG. 4, and 1 FIG. 7 shows a different type of carrier bag, in a view similar to FIG. 4, and modified in accordance with an aspect of the invention, the bag being a gussetted bag.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a pair of cutting rolls with special cutting means added to modify the bag lblank in accordance with the present invention, and

FIG. 9 is an end view of the rolls of FIG. 8.

FIG. 1 shows a known type of carrier bag preform having a satchel bottom portion 20, manufactured by wellknown means. The bag is provided with an overlapping seam 21 which is adhered in place, and the open end of the bag has a plain rim 22. A narrow band 22 adjacent the rim 22 is adapted to be folded inwards about a line 23, and slits 24 are provided along part of this line on opposite sides of the bag for the insertion of carrier bag handles, as shown in FIG. 2.

The known type of handle shown in FIG. 2 has a U- shaped gripping portion 25, the limbs of which are attached by means of staples 27 to a rectangular piece of stiff cardboard 26.

The prior art method of inserting bag handles was done in the following manner. A first operator working at a conveyor line folds the bag inwardly about the line 23 to the form shown in FIG. 2. Then a second operator takes a handle with the cardboard section 26 coated with glue in one hand and, while holding the bag and lifting the band 22 with the other hand to provide a space between the band 22' and the body, of the bag, slips the handle in the direction of the arrow under the inwardly turned band 22 forming the rim of the bag. The finished bag appears as in FIG. 3 with the carrier portion 25 of the handle protruding through slit 24 in the bag.

In accordance with the present invention, the narrow band 22' at the top of the bag preform is cut away at shown at 30 in FIG. 4 to form two long tabs 28 with the slits 24 on fold line 23 at the mid-point of the tabs 28. It has been found that a preform of this kind can be folded simultaneously with insertion of the handle as indicated in FIG. 5. The operator folds one of the tabs 28 inwards with one hand and slips the carrier handle through the slot 24 with the other hand and then turns the bag over to repeat the process with the other handle. A considerable saving in time and/or economy is thus effected. The finished bag appears as in FIG. 6. Naturally, if desired, the tabs 28 can be folded outside instead of inside the bag.

The slitting of the top edges of the bag down to the line 23 to form the slightly tapered tabs 28 can readily be eifected in the manufacture of the preforms.

For example, FIGS. 8 and 9 showm a modification of the rolls forming the crease line 23 and slot 24 to permit cutting the top corners of the bag. There is shown a pair of rolls and 101, the roll 100 being provided with a creasing blade 102 and knife 103 for forming respectively the fold line 23 and slit 24 in a bag of the type of FIG. 1. The roll 101 is provided with a groove 111 to receive the creasing blade and knife. At the'ends of the creasing blade are a pair of U-shaped dies or knives 104, which, as shown, extend from mounting plates 105 which are recessed in the roll 100. Matching mounting plates 106 are provided in the roll 100 and contain grooves adapted to receive the knives 104. The mounting plates 105 have recesses 107 adapted to receive spikes 108 extending from the mounting plates 106. The purpose of the spikes 108 is to pierce and carry the corner portions which the cut oif by the knives 104. A pair of stripping plates 109 are maintained in engagement with the periphery of roll 101, each having. a groove 110 through which the spikes 108 pass as the roll 101 rotates. The stripping plates strip the cut corners from the spike 108. The mountings 106 are in the form of suitably hardened dead plates.

The method of the present invention may also be practiced with gussetted bags when these bags are clipped as shown at 31 in FIG. 7 to divide the band 22 into a pair of tabs 28 and a second pair of tabs 29'. The tabs 28 will be folded and the handles inserted through the slits 24 in the same manner as described above with respect to FIGS. 4 and 5 while the tabs 29 must also be folded but in a separate operation either before or after the insertion of the handles. Applying the present method to gussetted bags simplifies the manufacure of these bags even more so than it simplified the manufacture of bags of the type shown in FIG. 1 or 4.

I claim:

1. A method of forming a handled. bag comprising: forming a bag with a narrow band at the open end thereof, including cutting said band to form two discrete tabs joined to the open end of the bag along fold lines and slitting to form slits extending part way along said fold lines adjacent the mid-point of said tabs, and applying handles to said bag by folding one of said tabs toward one side wall of said bag while simultaneously slipping a handle having a hand gripping portion between said one tab and said one wall into a position where said hand gripping portion extends through one of said slits and securing said handle in position between said one tab and said one wall and then folding the other of said tabs toward another wall of said bag while simultaneously slipping a second handle having a hand gripping portion between said another wall and said other tab into a posi- 4 tion where said hand gripping portion of said second handle extends through the other of said slits and securing said second handle between said another wall and said other tab.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,075,672 3/1937 Stark.

BERNARD STICKNEY, Primary Examiner. 

